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9th Parachute Division (Germany)
Nazi Germany |allegiance |branch= Luftwaffe |type=Paratrooper (but see text) |size= |current_commander= |garrison= |battles=Breslau Battle of Berlin Battle of the Seelow Heights |notable_commanders=Bruno Bräuer |decorations= }} The German 9th Parachute Division ( ) was one of the final parachute divisions to be raised by Germany during World War II. The division was destroyed during the Battle of Berlin in April 1945. History The 9th Division was formed in December 1944Tessin, p.152 under the command of General Bruno Bräuer with many Luftwaffe personnel transferred to combat duties for which they had no experience; it was thus a parachute division in name only, Wehrmacht Heer paratrooper training having ceased in mid-1944.Beevor pp.159,236 Essentially, by that time Wehrmacht Heer "paratroopers" were ordinary (and often little-trained and underequipped) infantry units under Air Force command. In January 1945 two of his battalions were encircled by the 1st Ukrainian Front in Breslau where they were destroyed. In the Battle of the Seelow Heights the 9th Division was positioned between Seelow and Neuhardenberg, they received the full force of the first days artillery bombardment by Marshal Georgi Zhukov's 1st Belorussian Front on 16 April. Under this bombardment the 9th Division buckled. It rallied briefly on the morning of 17 April, when it was given some armoured support, but collapsed again shortly afterwards. Bräuer suffered a nervous breakdown and was relieved of his command at the request of Goering, angry at the collapse of one of his Luftwaffe divisions.Beevor pp. 223 236–237, 243, 246–247 Bräuer was followed in command by Colonel Herrmann.Le Tissier, p. 228 The [[11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland|SS Nordland Division]] rounded up some elements of the 9th Division and managed a temporarily successful counterattack. By the 19 April, the remnants of the 9th Division along with what remained of the rest of the LVI Panzer Corps were within the Berlin U-Bahn outer defensive ring.Beevor p. 286 During the attempted breakout on the night of 1/2 May a small group of the 9th Division stormed the tower of Spandau Rathaus (Town Hall) from which Soviet machine-gunners were decimating Germans attempting to break out of Berlin over the Havel using the Charlottenbrücke ('Charlotten Bridge').Beevor p. 385 By the end of 2 May the 9th Parachute Division had ceased to exist. Organization 9. Fallschirmjäger-Division Lexikon der Wehrmacht * Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 25 (infantry) * Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 26 (infantry) * Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 27 (infantry) * Fallschirm-Panzerjäger-Abteilung 9 (anti-tank artillery) * Fallschirm-Artillerie-Regiment 9 (field artillery) * Fallschirm-Flak-Abteilung 9 (anti-aircraft artillery) * Fallschirm-Pionier-Bataillon 9 (combat engineer) * Fallschirm-Luftnachrichten-Abteilung 9 (signals) * Fallschirm-Feldersatz-Bataillon 9 * Kommandeur der Fallschirm-Jäger-Division Nachschubtruppen 9 (division support & supply troops) Subordination * Stellv. II Corps, 11th SS Panzer Army, [[Army Group Vistula|Army Group Vistula]] – February 1945 * Stellv. II Corps, 3rd Panzer Army, Army Group Vistula – March 1945 * XI SS Corps, 11th Army, Army Group Vistula – April 1945 * LVI Panzer Corps – May 1945 Commanding officers *Generalleutnant Gustav Wilke (December 1944 – 2 March 1945) *General der Fallschirmtruppe Bruno Bräuer (2 March 1945 – 18 April 1945) *Oberst Harry Herrmann (19 April 1945 – 2 May 1945) See also * Fallschirmjäger Notes References * Beevor, Antony. Berlin: The Downfall 1945, Penguin Books, 2002, ISBN 0-670-88695-5 * Le Tissier, Tony. Der Kampf um Berlin 1945, Bechtermünz Verlag, 1997, ISBN 3-86047-906-7. * Tessin, Georg. Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS, Vol. III, Biblio Verlag, 1974, ISBN 3-7648-0942-6. * Stimpel, Hans-Martin. Widersinn 1945''Cuvilier Verlag Göttingen, 2003, ISBN 3-89873-726-8 External links * 9. Fallschirm-Jäger-Division – at ''Lexikon der Wehrmacht (German) * 9.Fallschrim-Jäger-Division at Feldgrau (English) Category:Airborne divisions of Germany Category:Military units and formations established in 1944 Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 Category:Fallschirmjäger divisions